1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for automatically transferring rolls of absorbent material such as toilet paper or other wiping materials, as well as a method for reloading such an apparatus, and rolls of absorbent material specially adapted for use the apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In conventional multi-roll sheet dispensing apparatus, material from a first roll of absorbent material is incrementally dispensed through a dispensing opening in a housing. In some dispensers, as long as there is material on the first roll, a lever remains in position to prevent a second roll from falling down by gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,032 to Boone et al. is a dispenser of that type. However, in such dispensers, each roll of absorbent material requires two core plugs, which may lead to core plug insertion issues and which also permits a roll of toilet paper to be positioned in either of two orientations, such that the sheets could come from behind and under the roll, instead of the preferred over the top orientation. In addition, there are sometimes retention problems with the spent cores in that the cores are prone to fall out of the dispenser and onto the floor.
Several attempts have been made to address the above-noted problems including U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,542 to Perrin et al. and a more recent attempt shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,349 to Moody et al.
The device of Perrin attempts to solve the issue of the spent cores by using a mandrel. However, the device of Perrin does not automatically transfer the second roll once the first roll runs out. Rather, a user must physically dislodge the mandrel from a stop portion to enable the mandrel to slide down so that the second roll can be accessed.
The device of Moody is complicated in that it requires not only a specialized latch dog assembly on the mandrel, but also removal of the entire mandrel from the dispenser in order to load a new roll.